FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT LESBIAN - PAGE 2

Feb 5 (Reuters) - It does get better for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth, with bullying in their early teens fading away as they grow older, according to a study of the name calling, threats and violence faced by teens in England. Researchers, whose results appeared in Pediatrics, found that while more than half of non-heterosexual teens reported getting bullied at ages 13 and 14, fewer than one in ten was still being victimized six years later. "This study provides strong empirical support for the idea that it does get better," said lead researcher Joseph Robinson, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Shortly after being elected in 1994 as Cook County's first openly gay judge, Thomas Chiola got word of a cutting joke that some of his fellow jurists had shared at a Daley Center restaurant. The judges played on an old, insulting gay stereotype, laughing sarcastically while saying Chiola should be assigned to Juvenile Court, he said. But today the open joking has stopped, Chiola said, and he is no longer alone on the bench. Cook County has one of the highest concentrations of openly gay or lesbian judges in the country with 15, including a recent appointee to the state Appellate Court branch in Chicago.

Colleges and universities don't just give grades; they also receive them. And in the first statewide report card ranking gay and lesbian issues, University of Illinois at Chicago was the only institution to snare an A. The report card, issued by the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, scrutinized several categories, such as incorporating sexual orientation in school anti-discrimination policies and whether teacher preparation programs include gender...

Susan Ginsburg's daughter came out to her mother at the age of 30. "I was kind of blown away," the Lincolnwood resident said. "It seemed like I was the only one in the family who didn't know. " She logged on to the Internet in search of a local parental support group and found the Deerfield chapter of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), which meets monthly at B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim, 1201 Lake Cook Road. The next meeting is Thursday at 7:15 p.m. Ginsburg, 67, said it was an emotional experience when she attended her first meeting three years ago. "There were about 20 people there," she recalled.

The coach of Penn State's women's basketball team, under criticism for her anti-lesbian statements in the past, said Wednesday she was abiding with a new university regulation that bars discrimination against homosexuals. But the coach, Rene Portland, declined to provide specifics. Portland, who has said previously she would not allow lesbians on her team, was the target of protesters outside the university's administration building Tuesday. In May, the university's board of trustees amended its anti- discrimination policy to include protections for homosexuals and bisexuals.

Author Jacquelyn Holt Park was "discovered" at an older age than most first novelists, so her coming-of-age book spans more than three decades instead of the usual one or two. Park's novel about a woman coming to terms with her lesbianism benefits from the writer's years of experience, particularly a period as a young lesbian during an era when American society was especially antagonistic toward homosexuality. The era between the early 1950s, when the book begins, and the 1980s, when the book ends, was one of major change for homosexuality in terms of social acceptance.

When I was 17, I persuaded my otherwise protective dad to let me attend a suburban Detroit club's high school night. I struck up a conversation with a guy who eventually invited over two attractive 15-year-olds and told them to kiss each other. They did. Tongue and all. I couldn't stand up for a while. Sure, I'd enjoyed girl-on-girl porn as a teen, but seeing it live piqued a desire to witness acts otherwise forbidden to my straight-guy eyes. I'm the guy who rents lesbian "art" movies from the indie films section at Blockbuster just to see the action.

Dear Abby: What do you do when your daughter tells you she has turned into a lesbian? My husband and I raised her properly. She was married, but things changed. Abby, will our daughter ever "turn around" and realize her biological clock is ticking? Will we ever see grandchildren? -- A Mother Who Cares A Lot Dear Mother: Your daughter's sexual orientation has nothing to do with the way she was raised. Continue to love her as you always have. Although your daughter will probably never "turn around," it is still possible for you and your husband to become grandparents.

Dear Ann Landers: I was appalled by your response to the mother who wanted to know if she was justified in excluding her daughter's lesbian partner from the family photo. Your statement that "live-in partners, whether straight or gay, do not qualify, no matter how long they have been together" was outrageous. The message you are sending gays and lesbians is that they don`t count. I`d like you to know that we do count. We function like families. We pay taxes and lead fulfilling lives, which is more than can be said for many straight couples.